Everyone makes mistakes. Naiba has also taken many detours and stepped into many pitfalls over the years of building websites. This article summarizes 7 mistakes to avoid when building your own website. If you don't have a website yet, you can first check out
Steps to Build Your Own Website, or follow
WordPress Installation Tutorialto build your own website. Now, let's take a look at the 7 mistakes beginners are prone to encounter when building their own website.
1. SEO Mistake: Not Providing a Sitemap 
A sitemap is one of the most important tools to help search engines understand your website's structure, but many beginners may not know that sitemaps can improve
website SEO optimizationeffectiveness. If you don't know what a sitemap is or how to add one, please refer to:
Several Methods for Generating Sitemaps in WordPress_Recommended sitemap plugins 2. Keeping Unnecessary Plugins 
Many people disable unnecessary plugins but keep them on the server. In fact, this is not safe. Just because you deactivate a plugin doesn't mean it poses no risk by remaining on your server. Some plugins may contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Additionally, too many plugins can increase resource usage on the web server. WordPress needs to determine which plugins are enabled or disabled and check for plugin version updates, which can indirectly affect the loading speed of your website's admin dashboard. Therefore, the correct approach is to delete plugins you don't need and reinstall them when necessary.
3. Forgetting Manual BackupsAlthough Naiba has repeatedly reminded everyone in articles that websites need regular backups and has shared
Prevent Data Loss: 10 Excellent WordPress Backup Plugins Recommended, recently Naiba discovered that the database backed up using a plugin had garbled characters, which turned out to be a bug in the backup plugin. So, it's very necessary to manually back up your website data periodically; you can't rely too much on automation.
4. Not Checking the Functionality of Contact FormsThe contact form feature is almost an essential function for
Foreign Trade Independent Websites, but many webmasters, after setting up WordPress and configuring the contact form, do not test whether the feature works. The email sending function on some servers may be faulty. If you don't check it yourself, you might lose customers for no reason. It is recommended to use the
Contact Form Local Save Pluginto record contact form data, providing double insurance.
5. Using Outdated Versions of WordPress 
Because some foreign trade users purchase shared hosting with lower PHP versions that cannot be upgraded to newer versions of WordPress, they simply choose not to update. WordPress version updates typically include not only new features but also fixes for vulnerabilities in older versions. Not fixing vulnerabilities greatly reduces website security. This is also why you often see corporate websites being hacked. Of course, if you are using a domestic server, automatic WordPress updates may fail, so you need to choose
Manual WordPress Version Update.
6. Not Updating WordPress Themes and Plugins PromptlySimilar to WordPress versions, if there are updates for WP themes and plugins, you should also choose to update them. WordPress announces vulnerabilities in some plugins every month. If you happen to be using one and haven't updated it, think about the risks.
7. Directly Modifying Themes and PluginsSome beginners follow online tutorials to modify theme and plugin code without backing up beforehand, leading to website errors or blank screens after incorrect modifications. Therefore, it's essential to develop the habit of backing up before modifying themes and plugins. If you also want to do SEO optimization and promotion, please continue reading:
Ultimate WordPress SEO Optimization Tutorial
A sitemap is one of the most important tools to help search engines understand your website's structure, but many beginners may not know that sitemaps can improvewebsite SEO optimizationeffectiveness. If you don't know what a sitemap is or how to add one, please refer to:Several Methods for Generating Sitemaps in WordPress_Recommended sitemap plugins 2. Keeping Unnecessary Plugins 
Many people disable unnecessary plugins but keep them on the server. In fact, this is not safe. Just because you deactivate a plugin doesn't mean it poses no risk by remaining on your server. Some plugins may contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Additionally, too many plugins can increase resource usage on the web server. WordPress needs to determine which plugins are enabled or disabled and check for plugin version updates, which can indirectly affect the loading speed of your website's admin dashboard. Therefore, the correct approach is to delete plugins you don't need and reinstall them when necessary.3. Forgetting Manual BackupsAlthough Naiba has repeatedly reminded everyone in articles that websites need regular backups and has sharedPrevent Data Loss: 10 Excellent WordPress Backup Plugins Recommended, recently Naiba discovered that the database backed up using a plugin had garbled characters, which turned out to be a bug in the backup plugin. So, it's very necessary to manually back up your website data periodically; you can't rely too much on automation.4. Not Checking the Functionality of Contact FormsThe contact form feature is almost an essential function forForeign Trade Independent Websites, but many webmasters, after setting up WordPress and configuring the contact form, do not test whether the feature works. The email sending function on some servers may be faulty. If you don't check it yourself, you might lose customers for no reason. It is recommended to use theContact Form Local Save Pluginto record contact form data, providing double insurance.5. Using Outdated Versions of WordPress 
Because some foreign trade users purchase shared hosting with lower PHP versions that cannot be upgraded to newer versions of WordPress, they simply choose not to update. WordPress version updates typically include not only new features but also fixes for vulnerabilities in older versions. Not fixing vulnerabilities greatly reduces website security. This is also why you often see corporate websites being hacked. Of course, if you are using a domestic server, automatic WordPress updates may fail, so you need to chooseManual WordPress Version Update.6. Not Updating WordPress Themes and Plugins PromptlySimilar to WordPress versions, if there are updates for WP themes and plugins, you should also choose to update them. WordPress announces vulnerabilities in some plugins every month. If you happen to be using one and haven't updated it, think about the risks.7. Directly Modifying Themes and PluginsSome beginners follow online tutorials to modify theme and plugin code without backing up beforehand, leading to website errors or blank screens after incorrect modifications. Therefore, it's essential to develop the habit of backing up before modifying themes and plugins. If you also want to do SEO optimization and promotion, please continue reading:Ultimate WordPress SEO Optimization Tutorial
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